Reliance Jio Becomes The Third-Largest Telecom Operator In India!
While other companies are reporting losses quarter after quarter, Jio continues with its predatory marketing strategy.
The newest incumbent on the block, Reliance Jio has steadily climbed up the ladder within a very short period of fewer than eighteen months. Be it free unlimited calls with loads of data or free premium app services, Reliance Jio is currently ruling the Indian telecom industry. The company has crossed over 180 million subscribers across the country.
While other companies are reporting losses quarter after quarter, Jio continues with its predatory marketing strategy. Next up, Reliance Jio is aiming to cover 99 per cent of the population of India by the end of this fiscal.
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Jio Beats Idea Cellular To Become Third-Largest Telecom Operator
As per the latest reports, Reliance Jio Infocomm has now become the third-largest telecom operator in the country in terms of revenue market share. Jio has beaten Idea to grab the third spot and now the company closing in on Vodafone India to grab the second spot as well.
Reliance Jio started operating commercially a year-and-a-half back in September 2016, and presently it holds a revenue market share of as much as 20 per cent, as per the financial data put up by TRAI.
Idea Cellular currently holds a 16.5 per cent market share, followed by Vodafone India at number two with a 21 per cent revenue market share. Bharti Airtel leads the table with a market share of around 32 percent, helped in part by its recent intra-circle roaming pact with Tata Teleservices.
The Idea-Vodafone Merger
Jio and Airtel will soon have to fight against a huge merged entity, who will hold around 38 percent of the entire market after the merger. The much-awaited merger of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India is supposed to be done by the end of this month.
The new Idea-Vodafone entity will create a Rs 63,000 crore revenue property with over 430 million subscribers combined.
Together, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular will emerge as the new market leader, followed by Airtel and Jio. Though as per the reports, Jio will continue with its predatory pricing strategies to grab a bigger market share. Jio is already at number one or two in 18 circles with over 25 percent Average Gross Revenue market share in 15 circles.
Airtel & Vodafone Fire Up Competition Against Jio
The average revenue per user of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India has dipped by over 45 percent since Reliance Jio has arrived. Most of the customers are switching to Jio to use the internet and make outgoing calls, which are unlimited and free.
On the other hand, they are using their older carrier connections only to receive incoming calls.
To go against Reliance Jio, other telecom companies are bringing in better plans or are making changes to their existing plans to stay relevant in the competition.
Better Plans Than Jio
Recently Airtel has upgraded its Rs 149 prepaid plan to offer 2GB of high-speed data per day. If compared, the same Rs 149 Jio pack offer 1.5GB data per day with similar benefits like free voice calls, national and SMS. The upgraded Rs 149 Airtel plan offers data at Rs 2.66 per GB, whereas Jio is offering data at Rs 3.55 per GB.
Airtel also launched a new Rs 558 prepaid plan which offers 3 GB per day for a validity period of 82 days at only Rs 2.27 per GB. Vodafone also offers a similar pack of Rs 569 which offers 3GB data per day for 84 days at Rs 2.26 per GB.
If compared, again Jio is offering similar benefits at a higher price. The Rs 299 pack, which is valid of 28 days, offers 3GB per day at a higher rate of Rs 3.56 per GB.
The growing competition from Airtel and Vodafone is a big warning for Reliance Jio. After dominating the market for over a year, Jio should get ready to face some competition from the other incumbents as well.
